Hockey: Grizzlies maul Eagles in 6-1 home-ice rout

The Utah Grizzlies rolled past the Colorado Eagles 6-1 on Saturday night before 7,208 fans at the Maverik Center.

WEST VALLEY CITY — The Utah Grizzlies rolled past the Colorado Eagles 6-1 on Saturday night before 7,208 fans at the Maverik Center.

Utah improved to 32-32-0-6 overall and 7-2-0-1 in its last 10 games, the best record in the Western Conference during that stretch.

"You have to get focused, go get the job at hand done and we did it again tonight," said Grizzlies head coach Kevin Colley. "We're trying to build good habits and we have to play the right way for 60 minutes, no matter the score.

"You can't have any weak links. We're just glad everyone got out hopefully uninjured. We just played our game plan, simple, we weren't going for the home run passes and our transition game was good."

After a scoreless first period, Utah took a 1-0 lead 2:50 into the second period as the Grizzlies' energy line worked the puck around and scored on a delayed penalty, as John Armstrong crashed the net on a rebound. Dave Strathman held the puck in from the point and threw it towards the net. C.J. Severyn collected the first of his two assists on the play, as he started his first career multiple-point game.

Colorado tied the game at 1-1 at 6:16 of the second period and Utah roared back with five straight goals to finish the game. Utah made it 2-1 on a Colin Vock (14) power-play goal at 9:38 of the second period, and Ryan Turek made it 3-1 with 1:08 left in the second on a five-on-three power-play goal.

Utah scored three times in the third period to build a 6-1 lead as Chris Donovan (2), Paul McIlveen (30) and Gaelan Patterson all scored. The Eagles racked up 21 third-period penalties as their tempers flared late in the lopsided loss.

Fourteen of Utah's 16 skaters scored in the game and Grizzlies goalie Andrew Engelage stopped 23-of-24 shots for his 24th win of the year.

The Grizzlies conclude the regular season next Friday and Saturday in Bakersfield.

Utah has clinched its fifth straight playoff berth and its sixth in the last seven years. The opening round will start the first week in April and the postseason schedule will be announced at the conclusion of the regular season.